While we now consider the Trackmasters to be just Poke and ‘Red Hot Lover’ Tone, it originally included Alex Richberg and Frank Nitty in the early days. After cutting their teeth on Finesse and Synquis, Tone’s first solo album and working with Chubb Rock, the crew really put themselves on the map when they added three tracks to Kool G Rap‘s Live and Let Die album, resulting in ‘Ill Street Blues’ and the ‘On The Run’ remix making a lot of noise. From their, placements with LL Cool J, Nas and their new discovery Foxy Brown ensured that they were on the up-and-up, and before long they pumping out hits for Will Smith, Jay-Z and Jennifer Lopez.
Fun fact: Could it be that the Trackmasters use of the Beatnuts‘ ‘Watch Out Now‘ beat for J-Lo’s ‘Jenny On The Block‘ was a subtle payback for the ‘Nuts using the same loop as Red Hot Lover Tone has rapped over in 1992 on ‘Winderella‘ for 1994’s ‘Are You Ready‘? While they certainly weren’t above using some obvious disco loops on some of their later work, there’s no doubt that this duo have delivered some amazing records, as this collection demonstrates.
Download: A Salute To The Trackmasters [re-upped]
Tracklisting:
01. ‘On The Run’ [Al Capone Version] – Kool G Rap & D.J. Polo
02. ‘Trading Places’ – AZ
03. ‘How U Get A Record Deal’ – Big Daddy Kane
04. ‘Shootouts’ – Nas
05. ‘The Vibe’ – Pudgee Tha Phat Bastard
06. ‘Straight Razor’ – Shante
07. ‘Fox Boogie’ – Foxy Brown feat. Kid Capri
08. ‘Ill Street Blues’ – Kool G. Rap & DJ Polo
09. ‘The Return Remix’ – YZ
10. ‘Yeah’ [Master Vocal Mix] – The A.T.E.E.M.
11. ‘Ghetto Qu’ran’ – 50 Cent
12. ‘Straight Jacket’ – Kool G. Rap & DJ Polo
13. ‘Escobar 97’ – Nas
14. ‘Pop ‘Nuff Shit’ – Chubb Rock
15. ‘I Shot Ya’ [Remix] – LL Cool J feat. Keith Murray, Prodigy, Fat Joe & Foxy Brown
16. ‘Yes Yes Y’all’ – Red Hot Lover Tone
They had some early joints but I can’t salute a crew that built a career on beat biting. Probably began with Chubb’s “yabbadabbadoo” and became rampant from that point on.
THESE DUDES ARE A WALKING LESSON IN ALL THAT IS GOOD AND AWFUL ABOUT THE RAP PRODUCTION GAME: THEY MADE STREET CLASSICS, THEY MADE RADIO HITS, THEY WERE BRILLIANTLY TALENTED BUT ALSO RUTHLESS BEAT JACKERS AND CREDIT THIEVES. THEY WERE ALSO THE BLUEPRINT FOR THE HIT MEN.
I’ve just in the last couple of years begun to apprieciate the Track Masters. Yes, they had a lot of commercial success but what heads fail to realize is that they were simply underground cats who figured out how to make their music more accessible.
I liked the beat on crustified Ra’s Bloodshed .
I felt like they progressively got worse over time, ran out of ideas and stole beats until they inevitably disappeared.
@Caesar: They put together a new team, including The Are from K-Otix maybe six or seven years ago, but I’m not sure what came of it.
Always loved Allure’s “Head over Heels” feat Nas, which they produced.
Yeah it stole from the Bridge, but they end product was good and certainly a lot better than some of the tracks of it’s era.
What about the Shaq song from the Steel soundtrack with Krs and Peter guns or red hot lover tones number one player
They also worked on Soul for Real’s “Candy Rain” album which I still bump this day.
love these guys, but they can’t eff with the Beatnuts….
Tone & Poke were the main dudes but don’t forget Rich Nice and Frank Pimentel were also part of the crew & produced under the Trackmaster umbrella.
@GNG: I forgot about Rich, but I’m not familiar with Frank’s credits.
Isn’t Frank Pimentel actually Frank Nitty? One is his given name, the other his alias.
I may be wrong, but I think Frank was responsible for a lot of the early productions under the Trackmasters name, at least when it came to records like Pudgee’s, G Rap’s, and Kane’s.
Intentional bite or not, The Beatnuts slaaaaayed that sample on “Are You Ready?” Sounds so much more raw and heavy. And that tambourine.
The No.1 Player by Red Hot Lover Tone is dope, don’t care much for the rest of their production but the tracks included above are nice
Yo Rob, should have had Louie Rankin – Typewriter (remix) on this list. So good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pk_26x6nKU
@Robbie
Yes, @Paul H. got it right. Frank Pimintel was also known as “Frank Nitty”. He did some production for Big Daddy Kane like “How U Get A Record Deal”, & “Looks Like A Job For…” under the Trackmaster umbrella. I believe he also did some work for G Rap & others.
@GNG: That explains why those beats sound different to the other stuff.